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ScamCheck on Aisle 1!

Scammers and spammers — they’re everywhere!

I confess — I’ve been a White Hat Scam hunter (translation: systems administrator who uses their “mojo” to track down spammers and scammers) back in the day (which would be mid 1990’s.) I lurked on a number of boards and learned some of the tricks of the trade from people who were a whole lot better than I was. And I learned some pretty amazing things (like… you really aren’t as anonymous as you THINK you are on the Internet!)
In those days we tracked down the “$5.00 scam letter (which occasionally rears its ugly head even now) among other scams and spams. We went up against people like Sanford Wallace, and for the real scumbags we sent letters to state attorney generals and Internet Service Providers. The spammer (or scammer) would get their internet account canceled.

It’s kind of a dying art these days, as the Internet has gotten a lot more complex. But it’s not something I’ve totally forgotten. It disgusts me when I encounter people who think that they should be given money for simply breathing and I particularly despise scams and scammers who target the poor and the desperate. So part of the blog is dedicated to scams and spams — the ones that spam my webmaster’s in-box in spite of the fact blasting spam at a domain is a Really Stupid Tactic.
I don’t go looking for them. They come looking for me. I think that makes them fair game.
But the thing is, I have the tools and skills to look them up and fire a letter off to the server administrators who are hosting the spammers (or put the server on the “Black Hole list”, meaning that most of the email they’re spamming will be rejected by email accounts across the planet.) Most folks don’t, and a lot of folks fall for these scams or email links that virus up their computers and steal their personal information.

So — suppose you get an email from Medicare in your in-box. Suppose you wondering if the thing is legit.

That’s a darn good question. There’s a few easy things you can do to check whether or not it’s legit:

RULE #1 — IF YOU DIDN’T ASK THIS COMPANY TO CONTACT YOU, IT’S ALWAYS SPAM! That means “don’t click, don’t click that ‘unsubscribe’ button, send it straight to your spam (bulk mail) folder. Yes, even if it’s from your favorite politician. Unless YOU gave them your email, this is a dangerous piece of email.

3 thoughts on “ScamCheck on Aisle 1!”

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